WFSA Current News - January, 2005

January 25, 2005

Greenland allows bear hunting
            Greenland’s Fishing and Hunting Minister, Rasmus Frederiksen, has announced that polar bears will soon be on the quarry list, and open to managed hunting by tourists.
            The bears’ habitat has undergone reduction through melting ice. The cap on bear numbers accompanies the carrying capacity of the land available, as is the case with any other animal. But Greenland’s professional hunters, who comprise almost five per cent of the country’s total population, have also suffered diminishing prospects. Many have been forced to ask the government for financial assistance. Bear pelts, however, have a value of up to $US25,000 each elsewhere on the world market, and sales of a limited number to tourist hunters would provide a substantial boost to income.
            Despite an open letter of protest from Brigitte Bardot, based on emotional grounds, the Environment Minister, Jens Napaattoq, said that it would be appropriate to set the annual quota at 30 animals. The total polar bear population is believed to be more than 22,000.
            The president of the country’s association of fishermen and hunters, Leif Fontaine, explained that the species is not in any danger through the proposed hunting. Dominant environmental regulating factors are diminishing habitat and increasing pollution.

January 22, 2005

Call for repeal of a failed firearm law
            A bill has been submitted in the state of Maryland, USA, to repeal the requirement to collect ballistic information on all handguns sold commercially.
            The theory was that a database could be built up, so-called ballistic fingerprinting, as a means to allow later identification of all the state’s guns so that original owners could be traced. Two states, Maryland and New York, were convinced enough to introduce legislation accordingly. The actual means of identification would be a fired round from each individual gun, which by law had to be sent to the police before the initial sale. This was designed to permit subsequent matching with bullets and cartridge cases found at the scene of crimes.
            Maryland police have now released a report showing that the process is ineffective, and stating that the expense is not justifiable in terms of results. They have called for repeal of the law.

January 15, 2005

Kuwait incident leads to speculation on gun laws
            On Monday, January 10, a shooting took place in Kuwait City after the issuing of a statement warning about possible random attacks on westerners by terrorists. Police chased a suspect into a shop and he then made an escape by car. During that chase, two policemen were shot and killed and another two wounded. The suspect also later died of gunshot wounds.
            Following these events, the Gulf News on January 14 reported the arrest for interrogation of thirty suspected militants.
            A call has now been made to invoke tight gun restrictions, especially search and seizure provisions, following an amnesty for the surrender of all firearms held without licence.
            Increased measures have been taken with a view to preventing susceptible young people from falling prey to fundamentalist dogma. An anti-terror committee is to be formed by volunteers.
            A ministerial statement included a call for NGOs and the media to educate the young against “the dangers of weapons”.

January 8, 2005

Threat of challenge to South African gun laws
            South Africa’s Business Day has run an article on the continuing high levels of dissatisfaction with the newly introduced gun laws.
            Under the requirements of the recently published standard describing procedures for renewal of existing gun licences, applicants are to be tested on the contents of the Domestic Violence Act, the Criminal Procedure Act, and also on parts of the Constitution. The law, however, states that it is only knowledge of the Firearms Control Act that is required of the licence applicant.
            The South African Gun Owners Association’s legal representative, Martin Hood, said that if this draft standard is approved, then a court challenge will follow, on the grounds that the proposal is ultra vires.
            Further concerns have been expressed about the body that produced the draft standard. It has on it no civilian representation, and almost all of the members on it are either police or prison service officers

January 3, 2005

Argentinian concerns about firearm numbers
            The EFE News Service yesterday ran an article focusing on estimates of the numbers of guns in Argentina.
            The report gives the official government estimation: while there are about 1,100,000 firearms recorded with the National Arms Registry (Renar), there are over a million in circulation unregistered. A government announcement to that effect was prompted by an anti-gun pressure group asserting that there are 4 million firearms in the country, and half of them are unregistered.
            The Interior Minister, Anibal Fernandez, issued a statement in November 2004 announcing that the government is preparing legislation to restrict both the commerce surrounding and the use of firearms. Over 50,000 illegally-held arms were said to have been destroyed by the authorities in 2004.
            It is common for anti-gun groups to express concern about total numbers of guns in a country. The numbers are always estimates, and in any case there is no demonstrated causal connection between crime rates and high numbers of legally-held arms. UN figures giving gun density rates by household on a comparative basis country to country are available, and bear this out.
            It is usual to see articles of this type making the assumption that legislation requiring registration of guns will somehow bring an immediate improvement in crime rates. This is not correct. (See the December, 2004 Recent News section for details of the New Zealand government’s expected rejection of registration.)